St. Vincent de Paul is a well-known name that is commonly associated with service to the poor, especially since many organizations have been founded that were inspired by his example.
While later in life he founded various religious congregations who helped him enact his mission to the poor, before all of that he began his ministry by serving them himself.
Organizing service to the poor
Early on in his priesthood, St. Vincent de Paul served as a chaplain to an illustrious French family and was the tutor to their children and a resident spiritual director.
At this time he often went into the surrounding country to give parish missions, and it was during these mission that he encountered the poor peasants.
Author Henry Bedford narrates one of these encounters in his Life of St. Vincent de Paul:
One day when he was just entering the pulpit in the church of Châtillon to preach on a certain festival, a lady of rank stopped him and begged that would recommend to the charity of the congregation a certain poor family in the neighborhood, several members of which had fallen ill and were in extreme distress.
St. Vincent de Paul took the opportunity to preach about service to the poor and specifically mentioned this family.
Many members of the congregation responded to his invitation, but what caught his eye was their disorganization.
He sought to fix that and his administrative mind set to work:
The very next day he assembled some of the most devout and affluent of the ladies of the parish for the purpose of arranging some system for the relief, not only of this one family, but of all others who might require it, and such a system as would afford them relief as long as they should stand in need of it.
His initial efforts became a Confraternity of Charity that spread throughout the countryside, organizing efforts to serve the poor peasants.
This first effort to serve the poor would become a recurring theme throughout the rest of his life, as he used his administrative charism to organize charitable works.
St. Vincent de Paul remains a great inspiration for how we can use our particular gifts and talents for the spreading of the Gospel.
